Antimicrobial biodegradable films based on PVA-AHSG incorporated with nisin were prepared. These films were characterized for their ability to control the overall release rate of nisin into foods, which would be needed for active food packaging. The objectives of this study were to assay the biodegradable films for nisin release, and to investigate their antimicrobial activity against L. innocua. The release kinetics of nisin from the films were described using Fick\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Second Law, mass ratio, partition coefficient, desorption coefficient and the Weibull model. All PVA-AHSG films showed inhibition zones that increased with increasing nisin concentration. Nisin release increased as its concentration in the film matrix increased. Release of nisin was faster at higher concentrations, and the diffusion coefficients increased significantly with increasing concentration. The partition coefficient -k- values obtained were 1.42, 0.61 and 0.64 for 3000, 5000 and 10,000 IU of nisin, respectively. According to the Weibull parameters, nisin is released following pseudo-Fickian diffusion. Results showed that the PVA-AHSG composite films showed promise for developing controlled release applications with nisin in aqueous solutions.

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